Complaints to the Housing Ombudsman Service

The Housing Ombudsman Service deals with complaints about registered providers of social housing in England, including local authority landlords and housing associations.

The Housing Ombudsman is independent and impartial. The service is free of charge.

Complaint handling code

The Housing Ombudsman's complaint handling code sets out how social landlords must respond to complaints. The code is a statutory requirement for social landlords.[1]

The Ombudsman is required to monitor social landlords' compliance with the code. The Ombudsman promotes good practice and supports landlords and tenants to resolve disputes between themselves.

Find out more about the complaint handling code from the Housing Ombudsman website.

All registered providers of social housing in England must be members of the Housing Ombudsman Service.[2]

The Ombudsman can consider complaints against:[3]

• local authority landlords

• housing associations

• arm's length management organisations (ALMOs)

• certain private landlords and management agents who have agreed voluntarily to be subject to the Ombudsman

A complaint should initially be made directly to the landlord.

The tenant can escalate their complaint to the Ombudsman once they have followed the landlord's internal complaint procedure.[4]

The Housing Ombudsman Service does not usually begin a formal investigation until the complainant has exhausted the provider's internal complaint procedure.

Time limit for Ombudsman complaints

The Housing Ombudsman Service does not start formal investigations into complaints that are made before the registered provider's complaints procedure has been followed, unless:[5]

• there is evidence of a complaint handling failure

• and the Ombudsman is satisfied the landlord has not taken action in a reasonable timescale

The complaint must be brought to the attention of the Ombudsman within 12 months of the final response from the landlord.

Any current or former tenant of a registered provider of social housing in England can make a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Service.[6]

This includes tenants, licensees, leaseholders and shared owners.

Lodgers or family members who do not have an agreement with the landlord cannot complain to the Ombudsman.

Former tenants should raise a complaint within 12 months of when the issue arises.

When a professional can raise a complaint

The Ombudsman can accept a complaint from a professional on behalf of a tenant who is unable to raise the complaint themselves. For example, an adviser, solicitor or support worker with signed authority to act on behalf of the resident.

The written consent must state that the professional is authorised to contact the Housing Ombudsman Service on the tenant's behalf.

Find out more about bringing a complaint on behalf of someone else on the Housing Ombudsman website.

When other people can raise a complaint

The Ombudsman can also consider complaints from other people who are not tenants, including people who:

• have applied for a property with a landlord covered by the Ombudsman

• have applied to succeed to a tenancy

• are seeking to become a tenant through assignment or mutual exchange

• have matrimonial home rights over a property owned by the landlord

• have a court order, or power of attorney for a tenant

The Housing Ombudsman can consider a range of complaints about housing associations and local authority landlords. This includes:

• the condition of the property, including repairs, planned maintenance and improvement works

• occupation rights, including tenancy terms, succession, assignment, ending a tenancy and possession proceedings

• issues moving into a property, including transfer applications and mutual exchange

• how the landlord has dealt with issues around tenants' behaviour, including antisocial behaviour, noise nuisance, harassment

• how the landlord has handled the complaint procedure

• other issues, including, management of communal areas, compensation and leasehold issues

Find out more about complaints the Ombudsman can investigate on the Housing Ombudsman website.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

Where a local authority is performing other functions, such as its homelessness or social care duties, complaints can be made to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The Housing Ombudsman and Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can work together on cases where their jurisdiction overlaps and transfer cases if needed.

Find out more about complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman on Shelter Legal.

The Housing Ombudsman considers whether a registered provider of social housing in England is responsible for service failure, maladministration or severe maladministration.

This can include where the landlord has:[7]

• failed to comply with any relevant legal obligations or codes of practice

• failed to apply its own policies or procedures

• delayed unreasonably

• behaved unfairly, unreasonably or incompetently

• treated the complainant in an unsympathetic or inappropriate manner

The Housing Ombudsman Service could also reject the complaint or recommend that the landlord follows a specific course of action.

The Ombudsman publishes reports of its investigations online.

Remedies

The Ombudsman can instruct the housing provider to take steps to put things right or to compensate the complainant.

A recommended course of action could include the landlord:[8]

• apologising to the complainant

• paying compensation

• carrying out works

• taking any other reasonable step to secure redress

The Ombudsman expects landlords to comply with its determinations, and will ask for evidence of compliance before closing the case.[9]

The Housing Ombudsman Service can refer issues of regulatory concern about a registered provider to the Regulator of Social Housing.

The regulator will investigate a complaint if it:

• provides evidence or grounds to suspect systemic failure against one or more of its standards

• raises serious regulatory concerns, such as an immediate or potential risk to a tenant's or a number of tenants' health and safety, an allegation of mismanagement or fraud, or a significant risk to the reputation of the sector

Find out more about the regulation of social housing providers on Shelter Legal.